


you're like home

by ShirosRedKnight (SweetFanfics)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, M/M, Sick Shiro, keith hasn't told him, shiro doesn't remember
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 15:11:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11233584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetFanfics/pseuds/ShirosRedKnight
Summary: “I had a dream like this.”“You did?”“We were back on Earth, on a rooftop.  There were shooting stars.  It was like you had a whole galaxy spilling out of your eyes. It felt so good. Safe.” Keith feels his heart collapse on itself like a dying star when Shiro closes his eyes, sighing deeply, “Felt like home.”





	you're like home

**Author's Note:**

> And this was my submission to the Charity Sheith Zine, sorry I took so long putting it up ^^;;;

As Keith steps into the room with a fresh bowl of cold water, Shiro stirs. His lashes flutter, brows furrowing with effort before his eyes open to peer tiredly up at Keith. 

 

The fuzzy confusion in Shiro’s gray eyes and the sandpaper-rough voice with which Shiro calls his name out makes Keith’s heart ache. He’s lucky he somehow missed catching this space virus but seeing his friends,  _ Shiro _ , suffer because of it? It’s terrible. Keith would rather be sick in Shiro’s place than sit by his bedside, frustrated that he can’t do more than play nursemaid. 

 

“Hey,” Keith smiles softly down at Shiro, pressing a cool compress against the older man’s hot forehead. “How you feeling?”

 

“A little better, but still pretty terrible.” 

 

The red paladin smiles sympathetically as he uses a second hand towel to wipe away the sweat dotting Shiro’s face. Shiro sighs, turning his face into the cool touch. His eyes close, expression relaxing as Keith swipes the towel around and behind Shiro’s neck.

 

Ignoring his aching heart, Keith continues his duties. He wipes down Shiro’s clavicle, the top of his chest, his arms. By the time he’s done, Shiro’s breathing has gone soft and deep. 

 

_ Probably fallen asleep again _ , Keith assumes as he drops the small square cloth next to the water bowl. That seems to be the pattern for the others too. 

 

Coran had explained that the only way to beat this virus was lots of rest, keeping the fever down, and making Lance, Pidge, and Shiro take a bright green vial of medicine twice a day with their meals. Do so for four days and they’d be back to full health on the fifth day.

 

They’re currently on day three.

 

Carefully, so as not to jostle Shiro’s sleeping form, Keith leans forward to check the temperature of the compress on Shiro’s forehead. It’s cool, but could be cooler. 

 

Keith’s peeling the damp cloth off when Shiro’s eyes open, more dreamy and unfocused than before. 

 

His body freezes of its own accord, suddenly thrown back to a night back on Earth when he and Shiro laid on the cool roof concrete of the administrative building and watched a meteor shower fly overhead. Halfway through, Shiro had propped himself up on an elbow and peered down at Keith with the  _ exact  _ same look. 

 

Keith had laughed and told him he was looking in the wrong direction. Rather than returning to repose, Shiro had shifted to cover Keith’s body with his own, and grinned down at him. His dark head had been crowned with shooting stars. Keith’s breath had hitched in his chest, and wildly thought that Shiro looked like some kind of mythical figure haloed by the night sky he so loved.

 

_ “How can you see anything like this?”  _ Keith had asked.

 

_ “I can see the entire galaxy in your eyes.”  _ Shiro had murmured softly, a warm hand stroking Keith’s rapidly warming cheeks.

 

Stricken, Keith’s not sure what to do as he stares down at Shiro. The decision is taken out of his hands when Shiro smiles at him, sleepy sweet. “I had a dream like this.”

 

The softly spoken words smash against his chest like a sledgehammer, crushing the breath from Keith’s lungs. “You did?”

 

Shiro nods, smile widening, “We were back on Earth, on a rooftop.  There were shooting stars.  It was like you had a whole galaxy spilling out of your eyes. It felt so good. Safe.” Keith feels his heart collapse on itself like a dying star when Shiro closes his eyes, sighing deeply, “Felt like home.”

 

Emotions swirl nebulous and heavy inside his chest, trapped in the gravitational pull of the black hole forming where his heart had been. Because dare he hope?  _ Dare he _ ?

 

“You feel safe around me?” Keith finds himself asking, unable to hide his distress. 

 

Thankfully, Shiro’s too deep in his fever to notice the way Keith’s low voice trembles. He just nods, lips turning up into a small smile. “When I’m around you... I feel good. Like I can trust you no matter what. It’s just comfortable.”

 

A scream is born inside of him, all jagged edges and broken glass sharp. It gets sucked into the black hole almost immediately, leaving Keith hollowed out and cheated. He’d wanted to let that yell out, let it scrape against his insides and rip his throat out. It would have been a confession he’s been choking back far too long.

 

He wants to whisper to Shiro about the home they had found in each other.  He wants to show him the ring he still wears beneath his gloves.

 

Trembling, Keith presses his lips together, and prays for someone to show up and tell him what to do. Should he confess or should he continue to hold the truth back? Should he wait for Shiro’s memories to return naturally or nudge things along? 

 

_ What do I do?  _ Keith pleads, frustrated by the situation, frustrated at himself, frustrated by the way his eyes burn with the prickle of tears. He curls in on himself, forehead pressing against his knees.  _ Someone, please tell me what to do _ .  _Do I tell him what he's forgotten or continue to wait in agony?_

 

As he despairs for an answer, fists clutching his shirt, Shiro falls back asleep. Safe and unaware of the turmoil he's caused. A smile curling his lips up as he rests in his shelter in the stars. 


End file.
